Dreams
by Epeefencer
Summary: Harry's world is torn apart as he prepares for the final confrontation with Voldemort. What's left when your dreams are stripped from you, when all you wanted is no longer available?
1. Prologue

**Dreams**

**Prologue **

"_**All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."  
― Edgar Allan Poe **_

"It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry."

Dumbledore's words echoed through his mind as Harry Potter stared across the battlefield and took in the sight of Ginny Weasley. The hurt and pain hit him with all the intensity of a well placed Bludger.

"If only," he whispered, as a solitary tear escaped his eye and trickled down his cheek. He tried to take a couple of deep breaths to ease the tightness in his chest but it was for naught.

It had been Harry's dream to come back after defeating Voldemort and start a life with Ginny. But after almost a year on the run, when he had finally reached a point to draw the Dark Lord into the final battle, when they had talked last night, Ginny had looked at him sadly and said, "I'm sorry, Harry, but I've moved on."

She had continued talking but he hadn't heard a word she said as those words reverberated through his head, shattering his heart, sucking the breath from his lungs. He vaguely remembered her calling his name as he had spun away, running from her as fought the tears that threatened to fall.

It had been all he thought of, what kept him going during the long cold, lonely nights while off hunting Voldemort's horcruxes. His dream of a life together with her had been his beacon of hope for a world at peace without the threat of death hanging over him.

Now that was gone and he felt empty, hollow, a mere mockery of a man. He felt broken, betrayed, adrift without anything to anchor him to the world anymore.

He took one last look at her, her flaming hair standing out amid the dull greys of the smoke and mists that drifted across the grounds. Highlighting her fierceness as she battled a couple of Death Eaters at once.

Then suddenly she was gone from view, the smoke obscuring his view of her. He thought briefly of going to her aid, but then brushed it off. He had a job to do, someone to find so that all this could end and those he loved could go back to their lives free of the fear that had gripped them for so long.

It was with a overwhelming sense of sadness at his loss that he turned away.

"Potter!" he heard spat at him.

Harry turned slightly and there coming through the swirling smoke was the one he was seeking. He was gratified to see the Voldemort was actually limping slightly. At least he too hadn't escaped the battle up to now unscathed. Though he didn't look as bad as Harry felt himself.

Harry was pretty sure he had several broken ribs and his left arm was virtually useless. He had tucked it into his shirt, across his body to take some of the strain off of it. At least that way it only throbbed dully and didn't cause him the excruciating pain it did if it hung loosely.

"Tom," he replied rancorously.

Without any more of a preamble, Voldemort lifted his wand and shot a spell at Harry.

Harry gave a bitter laugh as he spun out of the way. It wasn't the Killing Curse that he had expected. Obviously Voldemort wanted to play with him before he died.

Well Harry didn't plan on playing Voldemort's game. Though he truly expected to die in the effort, he wasn't going to go alone. He would give it everything he had to take the Dark Lord with him.

Harry sent a Blasting curse back that his opponent easily blocked and so the battle was on.

Part of him was surprised that Voldemort didn't seem to be casting with the speed and accuracy that he had shown in the past. Then again, he wasn't at his best either, the injuries that he had sustained hampering his effort. Maybe Voldemort was injured more than he looked.

At first Voldemort had taunted him but as the battle waged on, he had stopped his verbal assault as he failed to bring his young opponent down. Harry felt a grim satisfaction as the visage of his nemesis changed. It went from surprise to shock and then a dark determination. Gone was the manic laughter, the taunting and in its place was a desperation to bring an end to the battle.

As the battle dragged on, Harry could feel himself tiring, his only consolation was that it seemed so was Voldemort. He had never felt so exhausted in his whole life and he was beginning to wonder if he would be able to defeat his enemy after all. He had added numerous minor injuries from near misses as had his opponent.

Gathering as much energy as he could muster, he sent another hex toward Voldemort. He watched as he spun to the side and gathered himself to fire a spell back. In that moment, Harry saw Voldemort's eyes flick to the side slightly, glancing past him to someone coming up behind.

Harry's eyes widened in shock as Ginny came into view, looking somewhat dishevelled but still beautiful in his eyes. As the hex was forming Harry sent everything he had left into a blasting hex that he aimed not directly at Voldemort, but slightly in front at the ground before him.

At the same time he dove into the path of the spell that was aimed at Ginny. His final thought was that if he couldn't have her, he'd at least make sure she lived to enjoy her life because he loved her enough to sacrifice himself for her.

He watched with a satisfying but detached air as his spell struck, throwing a huge wall of debris that rose up and slammed into his nemesis. Vaguely he heard Ginny screaming his name but then Voldemort's spell struck. He felt an excruciating pain and he realized he was screaming, then blackness overtook him and he knew no more.

**XX HP + GW XX**

**A/N: Just something that came to me. I hope you liked it and it has intrigued you enough to want more.**

**Please leave a review.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Dreams**

**Chapter 1 **

"OI! Wake up Harry, you'll be late for charms!" Ron Weasley yelled as he threw his pillow at Harry.

Harry sat up with a start. Looking around totally bewildered. The images of the battle fresh in his mind.

Shaking his head to try and clear the foggy feeling from it, he looked around trying to figure out what was happening. He tried to convince himself that it had all been a dream, a very vivid one, but just a dream.

Then he thought, "If it's just a dream, why does it feel so real. Why do I remember things that I shouldn't be able to?"

Ron was looking at him, giving him a funny look. What struck Harry was how young Ron appeared. If he had to guess he'd say Ron was 11 or 12.

Harry went to sit up and he had to grimace as he felt his ribs twinge. He also noted that his left arm ached terribly. Once again he thought, "If it was just a dream why do I hurt so bad?"

"All right there, Harry?" Ron asked, giving him a concerned look.

"Yeah," Harry managed to reply, his head spinning with all the questions he had.

Harry kept looking around, slightly in a daze. His mind was fighting what he saw before him and he felt quite disoriented. Everything had a surreal quality to it that did nothing to alleviate his feelings of disorientation.

He grimaced as he stood. "You sure you're all right, mate?" Ron asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. "Guess I just slept wrong," he added as he rolled his shoulders trying to ease his aching muscles.

"Meet you in the common room?" Ron asked as he headed for the door.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a few minutes," Harry said as he headed for the loo.

Harry stared into the mirror, trying to come to terms with the young face that stared back at him. He was trying to reconcile the 12 year old face staring back at him with the knowledge that was in his mind.

How did he remember being older, know everything up through sixth year and have knowledge of things that hadn't happened yet.

He splashed some cold water onto his face but it didn't help with the feelings of disorientation that he was experiencing.

With a deep sigh, he went back out to his trunk, threw on his robes, grabbed his books and headed downstairs.

Ron was whispering to Hermione as he came down and they both stopped as he came into view. Giving him concerned looks as he came over to them.

Harry glanced around the common room. Everything still had that surreal feeling and he knew he had a bewildered look upon his face.

Hermione gave him a thin smile. "Okay there, Harry?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied irritably.

His reply did nothing to calm his best friends and he saw them glance at one another.

"Come on," he said with a sigh. "Lets go down to breakfast."

The three of them made there way down to the Great Hall and Harry noticed Ron and Hermione continually glancing at him.

He wished he could get away for a while and be by himself to think about things. He hated feeling so disoriented.

They finally made it to the Great Hall and they made their way to their regular seats. It was as he was sitting down that Harry noticed Ginny Weasley sitting a ways down the table.

In an instant the memory of Ginny's first year flashed into his mind. He sat down heavily, the colour draining from his face as he remembered the Chamber of Secrets. Somehow he needed to talk to Ginny and get the Diary away from her. He couldn't in good conscience leave her to experience what she had gone through.

The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Ginny hadn't experienced anything at this point, well except maybe starting to write to Tom but nothing bad had happened yet and it wouldn't if Harry had anything to say about it.

Harry unconsciously rubbed his forehead trying to ease the pounding he felt.

"Is your scar hurting?" Hermione whispered.

"What? No," Harry said snapping back to reality. "Just have a bit of a headache this morning is all."

Hermione gave him a look that said she didn't believe him while Ron just looked concerned for his best mate.

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said after a moment of staring at him.

Harry had to school his features so that he didn't smile and give anything away. He'd said he wanted some time alone to think and Hermione had just given him the perfect opportunity to do just that.

"I think I will," he replied, standing.

"Want us to go with you?" Hermione asked, her face mirroring her concern.

With a wave, Harry grabbed his bag and made to leave. "Nah, that's okay. I've been there plenty of times so I know the way by heart. No need for all of us to be late to class."

Hermione frowned at him while Ron just nodded his head as he shovelled some more eggs into his mouth. "Ne gaa latr" he said, pieces for food dribbling out of his mouth.

"Ron! That's disgusting!" Hermione said with disdain, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

Harry paid them no mind as he left. His eyes scanning the table once more for Ginny. Unfortunately she had already left, though he did catch a glimpse of her in the entrance hall. She was with several of her year-mates so Harry left her go. Promising himself to talk to her as soon as possible.

He gave a quick glance down the corridor to the Hospital Wing as he passed it by. He was headed for some place he knew he really didn't learn about till his fifth year.

Taking care so he wouldn't be noticed, he made his way up to the seventh floor corridor and he walked past the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times. He gave a smile as a door appeared and he made his way inside.

The room looked very similar to the Gryffindor common room, though on a much smaller scale. The massive fireplace was there but the only other things in the room were a couple of chairs and one couch.

Harry made his way over and plopped down onto the couch, laying out so he could relax and think.

Within moments he gave a groan, to much information bombarded him. Sirius was still in Azkaban, Ginny had the Diary, the Tri-Wizard Tournament with the death of Cedric. Sirius and Dumbledore dying. On and on it went until it overwhelmed him.

He stood abruptly, shaking his head to fight off all that he knew was to happen. His head had hurt before, now it was a blinding pain that threatened to paralyse him.

Harry fell to his knees, grabbing his head in an effort to stifle the pain. "Dobby," he thought. "No wait. Dobby hasn't been freed yet and Kreacher is still at Grimmauld Place."

He thought desperately. He knew he knew several other house elves names, all he had to do was come up with one.

"Trixie!" he called out.

With a pop, a small elf appeared before him. "How may I's serve master?" the elf asked.

"Could you please get me a Headache Potion and something to drink?" he asked.

"Right away, master," Trixie replied before she disappeared with another pop.

It was only a few moments later when the elf returned with a tray bearing a flagon of pumpkin juice and a vial of potion.

"Will master be needing anything else?" she asked.

"No, this is wonderful," Harry replied, grabbing the vial of potion. He uncorked it and downed it in one big gulp, grimacing at its bitter taste.

With his eyes closed, he gave a sigh in relief, not even noticing the elf disappear. He stumbled his way back to the couch and collapsed down onto it.

"Is this some bizarre dream I'm caught in?" he asked himself. "I remember fighting Voldemort and seeing him get blasted as I stepped in front of the hex aimed at Ginny."

The feeling of being overwhelmed over took him again. "What the hell is going on?" he asked out loud.

Receiving no answer, he let his fatigue overcome him and he succumbed to the tiredness, falling asleep in a matter of moments.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ron was frantic and Hermione was irritated. Harry hadn't shown up for classes that morning.

At first they had been concerned that maybe something was wrong besides him having the headache, so on their way to lunch they had stopped by the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey had eyed them with a frown, stating that Harry had not made an appearance since his return that year and under her breath had added that she hoped he'd not spend nearly as much time there as he had the previous one.

The two of them made their way to the Great Hall hoping that they'd find Harry there for lunch.

They scanned the Gryffindor table as they entered but Harry wasn't to be found. As they made there way to where they normally sat, they passed by Ginny.

"Hey Ginny," Ron said. "Have you seen Harry?"

Ginny blushed deeply, staring down at her plate. "N-no, n-not since breakfast," she stammered.

Ron just frowned while Hermione gave Ginny a sympathetic look. It was well known that Ron had let just about everyone know about Ginny's crush on the Boy-Who-Lived.

Ginny shot an appreciative smile back at Hermione as she turned her attention back to her lunch.

"Where can he be?" Ron asked as he sat down and began filling his plate.

"I don't know," Hermione replied with a huff. "He's going to be in so much trouble and besides that he missed some very important information in class this morning. I don't know how he'll be able to catch up."

"He'll have you to help him," Ron said with a smirk.

Hermione glared at him. "I don't think so," she said harshly. "I mean it's one thing to help someone who is having trouble or missed class because they were ill, but it's something totally different when they've skived off class."

"You don't think something could have happened to him, do you? Ron asked between bites.

"It's only the second day of classes but this is Harry we're talking about," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "I just hope he shows up for Transfiguration or Professor McGonagall is going to have a fit."

Ron gave a shudder as he contemplated what their stern Head of House would do if Harry missed her class.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Harry slowly blinked his eyes, coming aware of where he was. He looked at his watch and noted the time. He'd have to hurry if he didn't want to be late for Transfiguration.

His heart gave a tug and his chest felt like a Hippogriff was sitting on it as he stared at the watch. Ginny had given it to for his birthday right before he had to leave to go hunt the horcruxes. He turned it to read the engraving on the back. _Forever yours, Love Ginny._

Harry fought the tears that threatened to fall and with a deep sigh, he stood up. He left the room quickly. He had just enough time to get back to Gryffindor Tower to get his books for the afternoon and make it to class.

The bell signalling the start of class was just ringing when Harry hurried into the room. He hurried over to sit down, getting a glare from Hermione as he did so.

"Where have you been?" she hissed at him.

Before he could answer, Professor McGonagall stood up in front of her desk. Her stern gaze swept the classroom. "I hope you all read the first two chapters like you were supposed to." she stated.

"Today we're going to start on animal transfiguration." With a wave of her wand a small number of beetles appeared before each student. "You are to attempt to change your beetles into buttons."

Instantly the required information was foremost in his mind, along with the memory of Hermione being the only one who had managed to accomplish it the first time.

Harry had to shake his head, still being unable to reconcile his memories with what he was living.

Not thinking about the consequences, he glance at Hermione and with a smug grin, Harry waved his wand and muttered the incantation. Not being satisfied with plain ordinary buttons, he made a variety of different colours and materials.

As he looked at the assemblage of buttons on his desk, he became aware of someone standing over him.

"Well, what do we have here," Professor McGonagall said.

Harry heard Hermione's gasp and he realized he probably shouldn't have done what he did.

With a grimace, he looked up into McGonagall's eyes. "Buttons," he said softly.

McGonagall's eyes bore into him. "I can see that, Mr. Potter." Her eyes then darted around his desk, taking in each and every button. "Can you explain how you managed this so easily?" she asked, her eyes returning to his.

Harry thought quickly. There was no way he should have been able to accomplish the transfiguration so quickly and well.

"Ummm, just lucky?" he managed to squeak out.

Harry watched as one of her eyebrows rose into her hairline. Her look spoke of her incredulousness. "See me after class, Mr. Potter," she said firmly.

Her gaze then swept the classroom again. "Why are you all not working?" she asked, her annoyance evident.

There was a sudden flurry of activity as everyone turned back to their own beetles.

Hermione gave him one last look of annoyance before she turned her attention back to her own desk.

With a sigh, Harry looked back at his buttons and since the Kneazle was out of the bag so to speak, he spent the remainder of class changing his buttons back to beetles before making them buttons once again. Each time adding further embellishments to the finished product.

Finally the class came to an end. Hermione was the only other person to change her beetles into buttons, though hers were all the same, plain black ones.

Harry gave her a weak smile as she gathered her things up and headed for their next class. Though not till after she had given him a frown, showing her displeasure at having been beaten in class. He could see she wanted to question him about his performance.

Harry had just given her a wan smile, nodding his head in McGonagall's direction.

Her eyes darted to McGonagall before returning to him. Harry could tell that things weren't settled by a long shot.

He watched as she spun around, lifted her chin and marched out of the room. Unfortunately he didn't have time to ponder her actions as McGonagall called his name.

"Mr. Potter, I am somewhat concerned about your performance during today's class," she stated. "You have never shown such aptitude before."

She lowered her gaze and stared him in the eye. "I want you to assure me that you accomplished the work on your own."

"I assure Professor, no one helped me in any way," he replied sheepishly.

"Then can you please explain how you were able to accomplish this transformation with such apparent ease?"

Harry sighed, his mind in turmoil. "I'm sorry Professor, I must respectfully decline at this time."

The Professor stared at him for several moments. "Very well, Mr Potter, but rest assured I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

"Yes Professor," he replied a bit sadly.

"I also want you to know that now that I know you can perform at this level, I expect you to continue to work at this level."

Harry looked at her in shock. His mind quickly assessing what that would mean, especially concerning Hermione. Gulping he said, "Yes Professor."

"Very well. You'd best be off to you next class," she said in dismissal.

As Harry grabbed his book bag and headed for the door.

"Oh, by the way," the Professor added with a smile, "5 points to Gryffindor."

Harry hesitated in the doorway, glancing back at McGonagall. He gave her a smile and departed.

He practically ran to his next class so he wouldn't be late. Once again reaching the door as the bell rang. As Harry entered he suddenly came to a stop, his eyes widening.

"Bugger," he said to himself. "I forgot about him."

"Harry, Harry, Harry," the teacher said with a blinding smile. "So nice of you to join us."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry said. "Professor McGonagall wanted a word after class."

The man came over and draped his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Did she ask for an autograph?" he asked teasingly. "Well no matter, take your seat and we'll get started."

"How could I forget Lockhart?" Harry asked himself, as he took the empty seat next to Ron.

Harry had a hard time fighting back his anger. Before they had just speculated on whether or not he was a fraud, but Harry knew now with certainty. After almost getting Obliviated and dying because of him, Harry had a hard time controlling his temper.

As soon as class ended, Harry bolted for the door, totally ignoring Lockhart as he tried to get his attention.

It wasn't until he was fairly far down the corridor that he slowed, figuring he was safe from being followed by the git.

It was then that Hermione and Ron were able to catch up with him. Hermione still had a simpering, sappy smile on her face.

Ron ignored her at first, looking instead at Harry questioningly. "You okay, mate?" he asked.

"Yeah, just peachy," Harry replied, irritably.

"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Nothing," Harry snapped.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Ron cut her off. "Just leave it for now," he said, pleading with his eyes for her to understand.

Hermione glared at him but gave a curt nod, but Harry could see that she wouldn't be put off forever.

He just turned and continued back toward the common room. He had no idea what to tell his two friends as he had no idea what was going on himself.

He couldn't help but think once again that he was in a bizarre nightmare as he lay in the Hospital Wing after taking on Voldemort.

**XX HP + GW XX**

The rest of the first week of classes went along in the same vein. Harry knew much more than he should and for some reason he couldn't seem to make himself stop from performing the material he knew.

Of course this did nothing to alleviate the problems he was having with his two best friends. Ron just kept giving him strange looks but didn't say anything about it directly to him. Though he was sure that it was a major topic of discussion between him and Hermione.

Hermione had been something else entirely, though it had him completely baffled. She had made a few comments the first day or so but hadn't confronted him directly.

Harry wondered if Ron had anything to do with that and if so, he was grateful because he still didn't have any idea how to explain what was happening.

The other thing bothering him was he hadn't been able to get Ginny alone to talk to. For one thing, Ron and Hermione seemed to stick to him like they had a Sticking Charm on them and if he did manage to get a few moments free of them, Ginny seemed to disappear. She usually saw him coming where she would blush deeply and hurry up to her dorm room.

All in all it had been an extremely frustrating week.

Thankfully it was now Saturday and for once Harry was enjoying some time alone. He had gotten up extra early and headed down by himself to have breakfast.

He was just leaving the Great Hall when he spotted Hermione coming down the stairs. Luckily for him, he noticed soon enough so that he was able to duck to the side, avoiding her gaze.

Harry had to laugh because he noticed that she was carrying her book bag and he knew that meant she was heading to the library after she ate.

He was doubly pleased to see Ginny and two of her dorm-mates following close behind. With a smile to himself, he thought that things were playing out just like he had hoped.

He settled down in the chair closest to the stairs to the girls dorms, waiting to spring his trap on Ginny.

He hadn't been seated there very long when a dishevelled and slightly disgruntled Ron came down.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked Harry irritably.

"What am I, you mother?" Harry shot back.

Ron jerked back and frowned at Harry. "You coming to breakfast?" he asked.

"I already ate," Harry replied evenly. He could tell Ron was confused and a bit more than a little unhappy.

"Will you be here when I get back?" Ron asked, glaring slightly.

Harry just gave him a non-committal shrug, secretly hoping that he wouldn't be.

Ron huffed and stalked away leaving Harry alone once again.

Luck seemed to be with Harry as it was only a short time later when Ginny and her one room-mate returned from breakfast. Her room-mate headed for one of the work tables while Ginny headed for the girls dorms.

Just as she was about to pass, Harry stood and blocked her way. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Harry would have laughed.

Ginny looked shocked and her face reddened considerably.

"Hey Ginny," Harry said trying to put her at ease.

"H-H-Harry," Ginny stammered.

Harry knew he needed to somehow get her to realize he wasn't anyone special and without really thinking about it he drew his wand.

Ginny's eyes widened slightly, tracking his wand as he brought it to his left hand. He murmured a mild cutting hex and sliced his palm.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock as she watched the blood pool a little before several drops fell to the floor.

Harry the muttered a healing spell that no second year should know, healing his hand in an instant.

"Ginny," he said softly. "I'm just a regular bloke. When I'm cut I bleed. I'm not some super hero. I'm just Harry. Can't you see me like that?"

Ginny's eyes travelled from his hand to his face and they locked gazes. Though she blushed slightly, it wasn't near to what it had been before.

"I'll try," she said, not stuttering or stammering for the first time while speaking to him.

"Good," Harry said with a smile.

Ginny smiled back, though he could see it was a little tentative. He also saw her relax a little, which he took as a good sign.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

Ginny's eyes darted to the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Somewhere private," he added quietly.

He watched as she blushed again and looked very nervous.

"Please," he said softly.

Ginny could see the slight pleading look on his face and she nodded to him. She was afraid if she spoke it would come out as a squeak.

Taking a deep calming breath, she asked "Where?"

Harry gave her a reassuring smile. "I know just the place."

"Okay, Harry," she said more calmly than she felt. "Lead the way."

Harry swallowed and steeled himself. "You need to bring the Diary."

Ginny's eyes widened in shock and Harry thought she was going to bolt for the dorms.

"Please, Ginny. It's important."

Ginny stood still for several moments and Harry could she her thinking hard. Finally she said, "I have it with me."

Harry just nodded and gestured towards the portrait hole. Ginny set off and he fell in step with her. Once they were out in the corridor Harry glanced at her.

She was glancing back at him, looking quite nervous.

"So how was your first week?" he asked with a small smile, trying to set her at ease.

"O-okay," she replied a little unsurely.

"Which Professor do you like the most?

Ginny smiled in spite of herself. "Flitwick," she replied. "He's so much fun. Though, I like McGonagall's class too. She's more strict but you can tell she cares about what she teaches a lot."

""Yeah, I know what you mean," replied Harry, liking the way Ginny was acting now that she was just talking normally. "So who was the first to get Wingardium Leviosa?"

Ginny blushed prettily, though she smiled widely. "I did," she said demurely.

"Good for you," Harry said sincerely. "You must be the Hermione of your year," he added with a chuckle.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please," she replied, shaking her head. "Fred and George would disown me."

Harry chuckled. "I only meant class-wise. I know how much of a prankster you really are."

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "H-how do you know that?"

Harry realized that he shouldn't know that at this stage, but he didn't care. He was enjoying getting to know this younger Ginny and it made all his feeling for her grow all that stronger.

"I know more about you than you know," he chided playfully.

They arrived at the seventh floor corridor and Harry looked at Ginny with a grin. "I'd like if you keep this a secret," he said, coming to a halt.

Ginny looked at him questioningly. Before she could say a word, Harry held up a finger. He then walked back and forth three times, watching Ginny's eyes widen in surprise as the door appeared.

With a short bow he held the door open. "Milady," he said with a flourish.

Ginny's lips curled up at the edges as she rolled her eyes at him. With a giggle she preceded him into the room, swatting him on the arm as she passed. "Prat," she said lowly.

Ginny halted inside the doorway, eyes wide in wonder. "Where are we?" she whispered.

Harry came up beside her. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room," he said, gently guiding her to the couch in front of the fireplace.

Ginny watched as Harry sat beside her on the couch. A million thoughts racing through her brain. She couldn't believe she was here, alone with Harry Potter. She had almost fainted when he had approached her in the common room.

Then he had cut himself in front of her, shocking her to her core. She still had a hard time grasping that and what he had said. Then he had invited her to come with him and talk.

It was during their walk while they were having their conversation about normal things that she did come to accept that Harry was just a normal person. "Well, almost normal," she chided herself.

She still had some of her crush on The-Boy-Who-Lived, but it was now tempered with the growing warm feelings she was developing for Harry. He was nothing like she expected and she couldn't help but wonder about him.

She had been so embarrassed by her behaviour when he had come to the Burrow that summer. She had run away that first morning after discovering him there in their kitchen.

She had let that incident affect her the remainder of the summer, becoming more embarrassed every time she was near him.

Now she had to smile. He had confronted her and in his own way set her at ease. Though she wasn't 100% comfortable, she was nearly so. Now it was just a trace of nervousness that made her heart beat a bit faster and made her slightly short of breath.

The walk here to this hidden room had done a lot to calm her down in his presence. The way they had talked about such normal things as schoolwork and he hadn't teased her at all about the way she had acted at the Burrow.

She realized that he was someone she could become friends with and she liked that idea very much.

Ginny became aware that Harry was looking at her, his expression unreadable. She tried to fight the growing warmth she felt in her cheeks though she was only partially successful.

Her eyes locked on his and she felt herself falling into them. Her awareness collapsed down until all she was aware of was Harry and the way he was looking at her.

Harry watched Ginny closely, taking in the emotions he saw forming on her face. It made him happy in some ways, reminding him of what they had shared until he had left to find the horcruxes. It also saddened him because of what had happened after he had come back.

Thoughts of what they had shared, the time alone, the quiet talks, the cuddling, the snogging!

He tried to push those thoughts from his mind as all it did was give him a headache and made his chest hurt.

He still hadn't come to terms with what was happening. That, he decided was something for another time. Right now he had Ginny and the Diary to deal with.

He saw Ginny look at him expectantly and he knew the time had come.

"Ginny," he said gravely. "We need to talk about the Diary."

**XX HP + GW XX**

**A/N: Well it seems the consensus is that you all want me to continue this, so here is the next instalment.**

**I'm curious as to what you think is happening to Harry. Is it time travel? All in his mind? An alternate reality? I'm not sure I've decided myself yet. Bhwaaa Haaaaa haaaaaa!**

**As always, Please review.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Dreams**

**Chapter 2 **

Ron stomped back into the Gryffindor common room, his eyes scanning for Harry.

He grumbled to himself when his friend was nowhere to be seen. He ran up the stairs to the dorms hoping to find him there. One quick glance showed him that the room was empty, so he stalked back down to the common room.

With a scowl on his face he paused, trying to think hard as to where Harry could have gone. His gaze swept the room one last time and his eyes feel on the firstie sitting at the work table. He only noticed her because she was staring at him.

"Looking for Potter?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding his head.

"He left quite a while ago with your sister," the girl stated.

Ron's scowl deepened and he saw the girl flinch in reaction to the look on his face.

Feeling a little bad, he said "Thanks."

The girl glanced at him quickly before turning her attention back to her work. "You're welcome," she replied, but Ron could tell she wasn't pleased with his reaction.

Paying her little mind, Ron stomped out of the common room. He spent the next hour or so wandering around the castle looking for Harry or Ginny.

He ended up in the Library where he found Hermione. She was sitting at a table with books all around her. Feeling very disgruntled, he flopped down into a chair across from her.

He idly picked up one of the books as he waited for her to finish what she was reading. He had learned not to interrupt till she was ready to acknowledge the person's presence.

He was surprised to see books having to do with all their core classes. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

A very harassed looking Hermione looked up at him. "I don't want to fall behind," she said with a glare.

Ron got a puzzled look on his face. "Fall behind? What bollocks is that?"

"Really Ron, must you use such coarse language?"

"Well, excuse me!" he replied a bit loudly.

"Shhhhhh," Hermione scolded, looking over her shoulder in the direction of Madam Pince, the Librarian who was shooting them a dark look.

"What do you want?" Hermione snapped at him.

"I was hoping to find Harry or Ginny in here," Ron replied with a frown.

"Harry I understand," Hermione said, "But why Ginny?"

"They left the common room together shortly after breakfast."

Hermione gave him a shocked look. Harry had never shown the slightest interest in talking to Ginny, in fact it had seemed that the two of them had taken to avoiding one another because of Ginny's crush.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

Ron gave her a shrug. "That's what Ginny's room-mate, Alana. . . Amanda. . . whatever her name is," he said.

"Do you mean Elana?"

Ron gave another shrug, "Whatever!"

Hermione got a very thoughtful look upon her face. "Where have you looked?"

"I've searched everywhere, Hermione," Ron said in exasperation.

Hermione shot him a piercing look.

"Well almost everywhere," Ron replied smugly. "I didn't check the dungeons, like either of them would go down there."

Hermione just shot daggers at him, her mouth now in a thin line. "Did you check the Astronomy Tower?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yes Hermione, one of the first places I looked. I checked all the towers, at least all we've been able to get into. I've been down to the Quidditch Pitch and everywhere in between. I've looked down by the Black Lake, everywhere. I even asked everyone I've seen and nobody has seen them since they left the common room."

"Strange," Hermione muttered.

She looked thoughtful for several moments and then shut the book that she was holding. "Come on," she said, rising. "Help me put these books back and we'll head back to the common room. Maybe they've returned by now."

Ron scowled at her but got up and began helping to gather the substantial number of books that Hermione had gotten. He was none to pleased but decided to help so that she would come with him to search for Harry.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "T-the D-diary?"

"Yes Ginny, the Diary."

Ginny looked down, not able to hold his gaze. Showing just how nervous she was about speaking about the Diary.

"It's okay, Ginny," Harry said softly.

Ginny looked up at him, a very concerned look on her face. "How do you know about the Diary?" she asked hesitantly. "I haven't shown it to anyone."

Harry frowned. How was he to explain how he knew. "That's hard to explain," he said slowly, his mind in turmoil. He gave a shot laugh, "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Ginny eyed him defiantly. "Try me."

"Maybe," he replied, sitting back and staring into the fire.

After several moments he looked back at Ginny. "Let's leave that till later," he said. "First I want to deal with the Diary."

Ginny looked back at him appraisingly. "What about the Diary," she asked, slightly annoyed.

"You have to admit it doesn't act like a normal Diary," Harry replied.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "How could he know?" she thought.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

Harry stared into her eyes. "A normal Diary doesn't write back, now does it?"

Ginny's heart caught in her throat. "How do you know that?" she asked shakily.

She saw the turmoil and frustration in his face. "We said we'd leave that till later," he said sadly. "Just know that I know."

"What about it?" Ginny asked defensively.

"Can I see it?" Harry asked nonchalantly.

Ginny looked at him dubiously but slowly reached into her bag and withdrew it.

Harry held out his hand. Ginny eyed him for several moments before slowly handing it over.

Harry just stared at it for a moment and then without any warning he threw it into the fire.

Ginny shrieked in outrage, standing and staring at the book as it sat in the fire.

Harry grabbed her as she started to reach for it. "Look!" he said pointedly.

Ginny was shocked to see the book just sitting there in the flames, totally unaffected by sitting in the fire.

"Accio Diary" Harry cast, summoning the book from the flames. "Would that happen to a normal Diary?" he asked as he guided Ginny back down onto the couch.

Ginny stared from the Diary to Harry, a bewildered look on her face. As she looked back at the Diary, she was amazed because it showed no evidence it had just been sitting in the heart of a blazing fire.

Harry thought hard about how to proceed. He was pretty sure that Tom hadn't shown his true colours up to this point.

"Tom isn't really a nice person," he said lowly.

Once again Ginny was shocked at how much Harry knew.

"He's been really nice to me," she replied with a frown.

"Yeah, he can be quite charming when he wants to be." Harry replied, "but trust me, he's not."

"How do you know?" Ginny asked, eyeing him warily.

Harry sighed. "Tom Marvolo Riddle" he said as he wrote the name in the air with his wand. Then with a swish, he swung his wand through the letters and they spun about, rearranging themselves.

Ginny stared at the letters, the colour draining from her face as she read what hung there before her. "I am Lord Voldemort."

Ginny began to shake and in an instant Harry was at her side, taking her into a comforting embrace.

"Shhh," Harry whispered into her ear. "It's okay Ginny."

Ginny buried her face into his shoulder and began to cry. Harry just held her and whispered comforting words to her. The memories of doing so before flooded his mind and he felt a sense of calm settle on him as he relished the closeness of holding Ginny once more.

Slowly Ginny's sobbing subsided and she sat up. She blushed deeply when she looked at him, sniffling heavily.

Harry gave her a sympathetic look as he reached into his pocket and withdrew his handkerchief.

Ginny gave him a wan smile as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She eyed him sheepishly as she held his handkerchief.

"It's fine, Ginny," he said with a smile. He took his handkerchief back and stuffed it into his pocket.

He looked at her and saw how much she was hurting and how insecure she seemed.

He reached out and put his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her into his side.

Ginny tensed for a moment but then relaxed into him, resting her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.

They stayed that way for quite a while, neither speaking, both just content to enjoy the moment.

As he sat there holding Ginny, Harry couldn't help but think on what he and what he termed the other Ginny had shared. That was right up till she broke his heart.

Somehow he knew that he couldn't equate the two together. Things were different here and now.

Harry sighed deeply, his mind all jumbled and confused. He still had no way to reconcile what was happening.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked softly.

Harry sighed again. How could he explain what he didn't understand himself.

"I don't even know where to begin," he answered in a whisper.

"Does knowing about the Diary have something to do with it?" she asked, lifting her head slightly to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah," he replied frustratedly.

"So how did you know?" she asked.

She felt Harry's shoulders slump and he ran his free hand through his hair. "It's hard to explain because I don't really know what's going on."

Ginny sat up and Harry keenly felt the loss of her cuddled in his side, though his arm still remained draped over her shoulders.

"Well, why don't you tell me what you can and maybe we can work things out together," Ginny said encouragingly.

Harry gave a rueful chuckle. "Like I said Ginny, if I told, you wouldn't believe me."

Ginny gave a small smile, "Well like I said, Try me."

Harry stared at her intently for a few moments and then gave a small shrug. "Okay, you asked for it, but I think you're going to think I'm completely barmy."

"Let me be the judge of that," Ginny replied, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Harry turned his gaze to the fire. It took a moment but then he spoke with a flat voice. "The thing is I have all these memories. Things that happened but haven't."

"What kind of memories and whose are they?" Ginny asked softly.

Harry gave a wan chuckle, "They're mine," he stated. "But the thing is I have memories of things all the way up through sixth year."

Ginny looked at him incredulously.

Harry smiled at her wanly. "See I told you."

Ginny looked chastised. "Well you have to admit it does sound kind of hard to believe."

"Don't I know it," Harry replied with a shake of his head.

"What makes you sure that it isn't just some sort of . . . I don't know, over active imagination?"

Harry thought hard about it and then with a shrug, he took off his watch. "Here, look at this," he said softly.

Ginny took the watch and looked at the face. As far as she could see there wasn't anything really remarkable about it.

"Turn it over," Harry whispered.

With a glance at him, she did as he suggested.

Harry watched as her eyes widened in shock as she read the inscription, _Forever Yours, Love Ginny_. She looked at him beseechingly, her eyes asking for an answer.

"You gave me that on my seventeenth birthday."

Ginny sat there stunned. Try as she might, she couldn't wrap her head around what she was seeing. She looked at Harry, her face filled with her bewilderment.

Several times she tried to speak but nothing came out.

"How? Why?" she finally got out.

"I have no idea," Harry replied glumly. "The last thing I remember was fighting Voldemort and throwing myself in front of a curse aimed at you."

Ginny blushed, "So we were together then?"

Harry looked at her sadly. "Yes and no," he said softly.

Ginny looked at him questioningly. "Which is it?" she asked, totally confused.

Instead of replying directly, Harry picked up the Diary. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, not expecting her to know.

"Isn't it just a cleverly enchanted Diary?" Ginny replied, her face mirroring her confusion.

Shaking his head Harry said, "No, it's something called a Horcrux."

Ginny looked at him questioningly. "What's that?"

Harry started at the Diary darkly. "It's just about the most evil, vile thing in the world, made with the darkest magic imaginable. It contains a piece of Voldemort's soul."

Ginny recoiled in horror. "W-what?' she stammered.

Harry could see the distress that Ginny was experiencing. He dropped the Diary and enveloped her in his arms.

"Shh, it's okay Ginny. He didn't have time to possess you this time," he whispered comfortingly in her ear.

"H-he possessed me?" Ginny cried.

"Yes, but I made sure that he can't this time," Harry said as he comforted the distraught young girl in his arms.

"How can we get rid of it," Ginny asked, pointing at the Diary.

Harry thought for a moment, last time he had used the fang from the Basilisk. "Bollocks," Harry whispered to himself.

"What?" Ginny asked, wondering at the change in Harry's demeanour.

"I was hoping not to have to face it again, but I guess I'll have to anyway," Harry said in frustration.

"Face what?" she asked in confusion.

Harry laughed ruefully. "A sixty foot Basilisk," he replied sadly.

Ginny stared at him in horror. "Do you have to?" she asked in fear.

"I don't see any way around it," Harry replied.

Ginny sat up, a look of determination on her face. "I'll go with you," she stated firmly.

Harry's first inclination was to say no, but as he looked at her he found he couldn't.

Ginny could see the look on Harry's face and was sure he was going to say no.

Suddenly she saw the look change and he smiled at her. "Well if you're going to come with me, we need to give you some training."

"You're going to train me?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"Yeah, can't have you go down there without being able to protect yourself and help fight the Basilisk," Harry replied with a smile.

Ginny threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. Realizing what she had done, she pulled back and blushed deeply. "Sorry about that," she said sheepishly.

Harry just chuckled, "That's okay. I kind of liked it."

Ginny got a pensive look on her face. "You never did explain about us being together when you said yes and no."

Harry sighed and looked at her. "Voldemort made more Horcruxes beside this one," he said, picking up the Diary. "We were together till I had to go hunt down the rest of them. I was gone the better part of a year and when I came back you told me you had moved on."

"Why would I do that?" she asked, looking at him with a hurt expression.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. We never got a chance to talk about it really. The next day was the battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I told you what happened and the next thing I know I'm waking up here," he explained.

Ginny stared at him, her face full of pain and uncertainty. "But things are different now, aren't they?" she asked.

"I certainly hope so," Harry replied.

Ginny sat up straighter and she smiled at him. "You know where the rest of the Horcruxes are, don't you," she stated.

"Yes I do," he replied.

"We'll get them and destroy them too."

"Are you sure you want to be involved?" Harry asked her, hoping against hope that she would.

"Harry, you said he tried to kill me, so yes I'm going to help you," she said firmly.

Harry grabbed her in a tight hug. "Thank you Ginny," he said emotionally.

Ginny hugged him back just as hard. Her eyes closed and a huge smile appeared on her face. She couldn't help but think that her childhood dream of being with Harry Potter was coming true.

She pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. "I guess this means we're together then?" she asked coyly.

Harry stared deep into her warm chocolate brown eyes, his smile matching hers. Tenderly he reached up and cupped her cheek. "Yes it does," he whispered, as he leaned forward and gave her a tender kiss.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ron and Hermione made their way back to the common room, discussing Harry the whole way back. Ron focusing on his strange behaviour, especially his sudden interest in his little sister and Hermione harping on his sudden prowess in class.

Neither came to any conclusions and it devolved into a rant about Harry. Each voicing their supposed problems, not really listening to the other.

They finally reached the common room. As Ron entered his eyes scanned around, taking in each and every person. "Damn it!" he exclaimed. "They're not here."

Hermione's eyes had also looked around, coming to the same conclusion that Ron had. Instead of ranting as Ron was, she sighed deeply in disappointment.

"I guess all we can do is wait," she said disheartenly.

Ron glared at her, obviously not agreeing. "Fine," he spat. With that, he stormed away, leaving Hermione standing just inside the portrait hole.

She shook her head sadly, wondering what was happening to the three of them. Everything seemed wrong somehow. With a deep sigh she headed over to the chair in front of the fire and pulled out her Charms book, hoping to be able to catch up with Harry in the spellwork.

She tried reading the next chapter but the words kept blurring and her thoughts kept going back to Harry. It galled her that without any seeming effort he was suddenly doing so much better than her in all their classes.

Her irritation rose. "I've always been the best in my classes," she seethed to herself. "It's not fair! He doesn't even study that much. How is he doing it?"

She slammed her book shut, drawing looks from those who were close by. They had never seen her act that way before. Sure she had the occasional incident, usually arguing with Ron Weasley but she wasn't know for bouts of seemingly unprovoked anger.

Ron had stomped across the common room, joining Dean, Seamus, Neville and of all people Colin Creevey, the muggle born first year who seemed way to enthusiastic about anything magical.

They were playing Exploding Snap and against all odds, Colin was winning almost all of the rounds.

Ron had himself dealt in at the start of the next round but he was doing exceedingly poorly as he fought his anger. He was usually the first one out, way earlier than normal.

His soot covered face and singed eyebrows doing nothing to temper his thoughts about Harry.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Harry was putting his watch back on when he happened to glance at the time. "Hey Ginny," he said with a smile. "If we leave right now we can get there right in time for lunch."

Ginny returned his smile. "That sounds wonderful Harry," she replied.

"Yeah and how about after lunch we come back here and begin your training," Harry said with a grin.

Ginny's eyes widened and her smile deepened. "Really?" she asked, her excitement bubbling forth.

"Yeah," Harry replied, going over to her and wrapping an arm around her as they headed out into the corridor.

Ginny reciprocated, wrapping her arm around his waist, leaning into his side. She couldn't stop smiling. "_I'm with Harry! I'm with Harry!" _she kept singing to herself.

And she realized she was happy she was with just "Harry" and not really because he was "Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived". Sure there was a little kernel left, one didn't give up eight years of a certain behaviour all at once, but it had shrunk down really small.

All the way down to the Great Hall, they kept exchanging glances, their smiles as big as anyone had ever seen on them. They had separated slightly and switched to just holding hands as they entered the hall.

They were among the first there for lunch and sat down hurriedly. Ginny just couldn't contain herself and ate fairly quickly.

Her exuberance carried over to Harry and he ate just as quickly, though neither ate with the frantic compulsiveness that Ron did.

Neville, Dean and Seamus entered just as they were finishing up.

"Hey Harry," Neville called out across the table. "Ron was looking for you."

Harry was standing and helping Ginny rise. He smiled as he looked over to Neville. "Okay, thanks Neville," he said.

The three Gryffindors had never seen Harry so happy as he was at that moment.

"You look happy," Neville said with a smile.

Harry glanced at him. "I am" was all he replied.

With that he turned back to Ginny and they left.

Dean looked at Seamus. "Were they holding hands?" he asked, his brow furrowed in thought.

"What?" Seamus asked. Looking back and forth from Dean to the doors where Harry and Ginny had exited. "Nah, couldn't have been," he added after a moment.

Neville just smiled, keeping his thoughts to himself. He had definitely seen Harry slip his hand into Ginny's as they departed.

It wasn't long afterwards that Ron and Hermione entered for lunch. Neville watched as Ron's eyes travelled the length of the Gryffindor table, frowning the whole time.

He and Hermione sat down in the seats recently vacated by Harry and Ginny.

"They're not here," Ron said with a scowl.

"Who's not?" Dean asked as he helped himself to some more crisps.

"Harry and Ginny," Ron growled back, grabbing a couple of sandwiches.

"You just missed them, mate," Dean replied.

"What?" exploded Ron, drawing the attention of those nearby.

"Ron! Calm down," chastised Hermione.

Neville glanced up from his plate. "I told him you were looking for him," he said with a shrug.

"Did you see which way they went?" Ron growled lowly, his eyes darting to Hermione.

"No, sorry. I didn't know it was our day to watch them," Seamus said with a chuckle.

Ron half stood up. "Think this is funny, Finnigan?" Ron threatened.

"Ron, stop making a fool of yourself," Hermione said, putting a restraining hand on his arm.

Ron sat back down heavily and returned to eating his lunch. Though he kept glaring at Seamus the whole time.

"Did they seem all right?" Hermione asked conciliatorily.

Neville looked over at her. "Never seen them happier."

"And they left together?" she asked, glancing at Ron in worry.

Neville just nodded his head, swivelling between Ron and Hermione.

Hermione just sighed. "I wish I knew what was going on," she whispered.

Neville just chuckled to himself. Far be it for him to say what he had seen. He figured it wasn't really his place to say and he wasn't a fan of all the gossip that floated through the school.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Harry and Ginny made their way back up to the Room of Requirement, totally oblivious to the looks and stares they were getting. Both were to involved with looking at the other, goofy grins on their faces.

When they arrived back up in the seventh floor corridor, Harry paused, thinking about the room he wanted this time. After a moment he paced the prerequisite three times and once again held the door open for Ginny.

This time she giggled lightly and gave him a nod of her head.

Harry nodded back, deciding he liked the sound of Ginny giggling. It had a certain musical quality that he found very endearing. He shook his head and gave a contented sigh as he followed in behind her.

Ginny was standing several feet inside the door, staring around in wonder. The room was easily half as big as the Great Hall and it was lined with all manner of things.

There were some book shelves that held not only books but some interesting devices as well. There were suits of armour spaced here and there against the walls, along with weapons of various sorts. In addition there were torches in sconces, with heavy beams of dark aged wood forming the structure holding up the ceiling. All in all the room had a very medieval feeling to it. Ginny thought it was the perfect place to train for combat.

"Like it?" Harry asked softly as he came up beside her.

Ginny smiled widely at him. "I think it's Brilliant!" she exclaimed.

Harry led her into the centre of the room. "Okay, the first thing you need to do is learn how to hold your wand correctly."

Ginny eyed him sceptically.

"Come on, draw your wand," Harry prompted, ignoring her look.

Ginny drew her wand and held it at her side.

Harry shook his head. "That's all wrong" he stated, looking down at her hand.

"What's wrong with the way I hold my wand," she asked defensively.

Harry turned to the wall before them and silently asked for a target.

A two foot round red and white Bullseye target appeared on the wall.

"Shoot sparks at the target," Harry said as he stepped aside.

Ginny eyed him with a frown. Wondering what he was playing at. Shrugging her shoulders, she raised her wand and shot red sparks at the target, a distance of about 20 feet.

Much to her surprise the sparks hit well off to the left of the target. She stood there, arm outstretched, staring blankly at the target, having no idea how she had missed by so much.

Harry quietly approached her and gently reached out. He took her hand and wand in his hands.

"You're holding it like a hammer," he said softly. "That cants it to the side when it looks like you're pointing it straight ahead," he explained patiently.

Harry gently removed the wand from her grip. "Here, hold your hand like this," he said as he held out his hand palm up.

Ginny copied his example. "Now your wand lays down in the crease of your hand, like this," he showed her.

Ginny once again mirrored his action. "Now gently close your hand around your wand, gripping it mainly with your thumb and forefinger."

Ginny did as he instructed.

Now raise and point your wand at the target," He said, once again stepping to the side.

As soon as Ginny raised her arm she could see the difference in the way the wand pointed. She glanced at Harry who smiled encouragingly while nodding his head.

Ginny turned her attention back to the target and once again sent sparks flying. She found herself smiling in delight. The sparks hit just a couple of inches from the centre of the Bullseye.

With a squeal she threw herself at Harry, hugging him tightly. "Wow, that made such a big difference," she exclaimed.

As she stepped back she raised her arm and moved her hand and wand around as she pretended to cast spells.

"I want you to practice as much as you can, holding your wand this way," Harry said seriously. "Practice drawing it from your robes as much as you can too. I want it to become second nature for you to draw and hold it correctly."

Ginny nodded in understanding. She vowed to herself that she would do it till it was right and came naturally.

Harry looked at her standing there. "Okay, the next thing is how you're standing."

Ginny glanced at him bit after a moment she began giggling.

"What?" Harry asked humorously.

"My first thought was what's wrong with how I'm standing and then I thought about holding my wand."

"Very good," Harry said, smiling at her. "The way you're standing puts you at a disadvantage right now."

Ginny looked down at her feet. "How so?" she asked sincerely.

Harry once again stood in front of her, but this time a little further away. He suddenly reached up and gave her a gentle shove to her shoulder.

Ginny was surprised at how easily he pushed her back and she had to catch herself quickly or she would have fallen.

Once again, her surprise showed.

"You're flat footed," Harry explained. "All your weight is tied up directly under you in a small space. It makes you easy to knock off balance and it makes it harder for you to move fluidly."

Ginny nodded taking in all Harry was saying. She never knew there was so much more to fighting than standing and casting spells at your opponent.

"Okay," Harry said as he stood next to Ginny. "Watch my feet. First stand with your heels together but with you back foot to the side."

Ginny didn't get it at first till she watched Harry carefully.

"See, since we're right handed, our left foot is the back one."

Ginny nodded again, watching Harry's feet carefully.

"Now we move our back foot out a little, about the width of you foot, or a little bit more."

Ginny was fascinated and mesmerized watching Harry. She mirrored his action and glanced at him.

Harry's focus was totally on her feet so she quickly looked back down to his.

"Okay, now step out with your front foot so that your feet are a little more than shoulder width apart. Place your heel about where your toe is now."

Unable to help herself, her eyes darted to Harry's face before she looked down, making sure she was standing the same as Harry was.

"Finally, bend your knees slightly, almost like you are sitting down in a chair."

Ginny looked at him, brow furrowed thinking he was taking the mickey out on her, but when he did so without looking at her she copied him.

"Okay, that looks good," Harry said in satisfaction. "Now it's important to always keep your weight centred. See, watch. I can pick up either foot without having to shift my weight."

Harry demonstrated moving forward and backward, the whole time keeping himself centred on his feet.

"It's important to not let your feet get to close together."

Ginny was fascinated watching Harry move. He was so fluid and graceful, she found it amazing to watch.

"Hey now," he gently chided her. "No watching, try and keep up."

Ginny focused on Harry and began to move. At first she felt awkward but with Harry's gently coaching and his smiles at her, she soon found she could keep up fairly well.

Finally Harry stopped. "Okay, lets take a bit of a break."

Ginny let out a huge breath of air. Though they hadn't really been working that fast, she found she was a bit out of breath and her inner thighs hurt like they never had before.

Harry led her over to the one end of the room where a small couch and table had appeared.

"Trixie," he called out.

Ginny jumped slightly as the small house elf appeared with a pop. "What is master be wanting?" she asked.

"Could we please have a flagon of ice water and a couple of glasses, please."

Ginny couldn't hold in her laugh as the elf smiled at Harry and said, "Since master asked so nicely, it would be Trixe's pleasure to get what he asks for."

Ginny flopped down on the couch, barley containing her merriment. Her eyes dancing with her mirth.

Within moments the diminutive elf reappeared with a tray bearing the requested items.

With a bow and a shy smile, the little elf left with a pop.

Harry reached over and poured two glasses of water, handing one to Ginny.

"Thank you, Harry," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome," he replied before taking a huge drink from his glass.

"Ahhhh, that's good," he exclaimed as he settled down on the couch next to her.

Though Ginny took a healthy drink, she didn't guzzle nearly as much as Harry had. She just sat resting after her lesson. Thinking about how it had been more strenuous than she had expected, even with just "walking" as they had done.

"So what do you think about your first lesson?" Harry asked with a grin.

Ginny chuckled at him, "Well it certainly wasn't what I expected, that's for sure."

"It's the basics," Harry explained, once more falling into what Ginny deemed his "Teacher" mode.

"Everything else builds off of that. Without the basics you'll soon find yourself in trouble. It's one thing to mess up if you're just duelling for fun but something all together different when it's life or death."

Ginny nodded, taking in everything that he was saying. Looking back on it she could see the wisdom in it and his final words hit her hard. She hadn't really thought about it before but what he had said was so true.

She knew in her heart that things wouldn't remain quiet forever. She had heard her father speak of the rumours about the Death Eaters and how they claimed that one day Voldemort would return.

She took a silent vow, then and there that she would be ready when the time came and she sure as well wasn't going to let Harry go off and face the Basilisk alone.

Harry sighed as he relaxed, letting himself lean over onto Ginny. He turned his head and smiled at her. "We'll pick up from here tomorrow," he said tiredly.

Ginny leaned into Harry too. Enjoying just being close to him. With a sigh she gave him a frustrated look. "What about Ron?" she asked with a frown.

Harry just smiled at her. "If all else fails, we'll use my Invisibility Cloak."

Ginny looked at him in shock. "You have an Invisibility Cloak?" she asked in awe. She then eyed him shrewdly. "What else don't I know about you?"

Harry just gave her a shrug. "I don't know what you know, so how would I know what you don't know?"

Ginny gave him a small frown, not knowing how to answer him.

Harry gave her a grin. "Though I do know it will be fun finding out about one another," he said as he leaned in and kissed her.

**XX HP + GW XX**

**A/N: Another chapter done. Hope it meets with your approval. Just for your edification Ginny's lesson parallels the first class of Fencing I use to teach. We played around with the Harry otter stuff with the kids classes we ran. **

**As always, your reviews are always appreciated. **

**Also to all those who have mentioned it, I am working on chapters to Love Story and Broken.  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**Dreams**

**Chapter 3 **

Albus Dumbledore walked into the staff room for the staff meeting that was historically held on the Sunday after the first week of classes to address anything that might have come up. He drew up short just inside of the door, listening in surprise at the topic of conversation.

All he could hear was everyone talking about Harry Potter. At first he was worried that the boy had done something wrong but his surprise increased as he realized that what had everyone speaking about him was his sudden excellence in all of his classes.

Forcing a smile onto his face, he continued into the room and took his place at the head of the table.

As soon as he sat down, everyone quit talking and looked at him.

"What's all this talk about Mr. Potter?" he asked.

Minerva, sitting at the other end of the table, facing him spoke first.

"It seems that suddenly Mr. Potter is performing at a much higher level than previously," she stated.

The other teachers that had him in their classes all began to nod and voice their opinions, seconding what McGonagall had said.

Albus raised his hand and the room fell silent. "How much better is he doing?" the Headmaster asked, looking at all of the teachers that had Harry in their class.

"Much better," Flitwick said exuberantly.

"Yes," Minerva said, nodding her head. "He is consistently the first to perform what is assigned in class, usually on the first attempt."

Albus turned his attention to Severus Snape.

The Potions Master scowled darkly. "Even I have to admit he is performing well beyond what he has done in the past." Looking like he was loathed to admit it.

Dumbledore looked pensive. It was quite unusual for a 12 year old to have a sudden increase in power, and even that didn't explain how he was able to perform so well. There was nothing he could think of that could have happened over the summer to explain Harry's sudden increase in ability.

"I want you all to keep a close eye on Mr. Potter and report to me anything that seems the least bit unusual."

When they all nodded in response, Albus asked "Is there any other concerns?"

The meeting then dissolved into the standard start of year meeting with the usual concerns voiced by the teachers about students using magic in the halls, Filch complaining about them tracking dirt into the school and all the other minor things that drove the staff crazy.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ron was beside himself in anger. Once again Harry had eluded him that morning, just as he had the night before. Ron had gotten so engrossed in the games he was playing that he failed to see Harry and Ginny slip into the common room and up to their respective dorms.

By the time he had come up to bed, Harry's curtains were closed. Though he was irritated with his best mate, he wasn't at the point to awaken him when he had gone to bed. He figured he confront him in the morning.

By the time he had woken, Harry's bed was empty and his anger returned two-fold.

He hurriedly washed and changed, completing his morning ritual in five minutes when it normally took him the better part of a half hour to do so.

As he charged down the stairs, his eyes swept the common room, finding it empty except for Hermione who was sitting in front of the fire, obviously waiting for him.

"Where's Harry?" she asked with a frown.

"Gone," was all Ron replied with a scowl.

Hermione shook her head in obvious displeasure. "Ginny's gone too," she said with a frown.

Rising with a determined look she said tensely, "Let's try and catch up with them at breakfast."

Ron joined her and they hurried as fast as they could without running down the stairs to the Great Hall.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Harry and Ginny were once more the first students down to breakfast. Even beating the majority of the teachers.

The entered hand in hand, smiling at one another. Ginny was almost giddy with the emotions she felt. She had almost convinced herself that it had all been a dream about her and Harry getting together.

It wasn't till she reached for the Diary and found it missing that she convinced herself that it was all for real. Harry had kept the Diary, saying he'd keep it safe till they had confronted the Basilisk and destroyed it once and for all.

She had dressed quickly after that and hurried down to the common room where she found a smiling Harry waiting for her.

He had stood and made his way to her as she descended the last couple of steps. He quickly grabbed her in a warm hug, giving her a quick kiss even before saying "Good morning."

Ginny was taken totally by surprise by his action, but gave him a brilliant smile as he took her hand and guided her out of the portrait hole.

Harry insisted that she eat a hearty breakfast saying that she was going to need it as he planned on working both of them hard.

Ginny found it hard to contain her excitement as she knew Harry was going to continue with her training and she didn't want to disappoint him.

They had just finished and were exiting the Great Hall when they were passed by Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Dean and Seamus were flirting with the two girls and didn't even take notice as Harry and Ginny slipped by.

Neville smiled at the couple and nodded, once again taking notice of Harry and Ginny holding hands. He and Harry locked eyes for a second and Harry just smiled back at him as he and Ginny left.

Neville chuckled lowly to himself as Dean and Seamus joined him in sitting down for breakfast. Lavender and Parvati chose to continue on down the table, taking seats near a couple of the third year girls.

They hadn't been sitting there long when Ron and Hermione came storming into the Hall, their eyes sweeping the table, looking for Harry and Ginny.

"Have any of you seen Harry this morning?" Ron asked with a frown.

Dean and Seamus looked at one another before Dean turned to him. "Nope, haven't seen hide nor hair of him," the dark skinned boy said with a shrug.

Neville had to fight the smile that tried to appear on his face. "Me neither," he said lowly.

Ron gave them all a disgusted look as he began to pile food on his plate. "Where could they be?" he hissed at Hermione.

Her frown matched his. "I don't know," she replied softly, her irritation showing.

**XX HP + GW XX**

As Harry and Ginny left the Hall they heard the voices of Ron and Hermione drift down the stairs, once again arguing about Harry and his behaviour.

Ginny's eyes widened and she looked at Harry.

Harry lifted his finger in front of his mouth, giving her a silent shush. He quickly pulled out a silvery light cloak from his robes and whipped it around the two of them.

With just moments to spare, they disappeared from sight. Harry tried to back them away from the stairs, causing Ginny to stumble slightly. In her surprise, Ginny let out a startled squeak just as Ron and Hermione passed in front of them.

Harry quickly tried to clamp his hand over her mouth, but he was too late and he figured that they were caught.

To their utter surprise, Ron and Hermione continued past, never giving any indication that they had heard anything.

Ginny saw Harry look quite pensive, shaking his head slightly. He then motioned her to continue up the stairs.

It wasn't until they were well away from the Entrance Hall that he spoke.

"I want to try something," he whispered to her.

"What?" Ginny asked lowly.

Harry took a quick look around and seeing no one he said, "I want you to step out from under the cloak and see if you can hear me."

Ginny looked at him questioningly but nodded her head. She left the safety of the cloak and turned around to face where Harry was.

"Ginny. Ginny!" Harry called out.

To his surprise, Ginny just kept looking in his direction, totally oblivious to his call.

Taking the cloak off, Harry looked at her puzzled. "Ginny," he said again. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

Ginny looked at him in surprise. "No, I didn't," she replied.

They continued their way up towards the seventh floor. "Here," Harry said, giving the cloak to Ginny. "Try putting this on and saying something to me."

Ginny just shrugged, took the cloak and swung it up and on. "Well, how do I look?" she asked cheekily.

She waited for a moment, but Harry just kept looking in her direction, never acknowledging her question.

Slowly she removed the cloak. "You didn't hear me, did you?" she asked.

"No, I didn't," Harry admitted, his face taking on a thoughtful look.

Ginny handed him the cloak which he folded up and returned to the pocket in his robes. He took her hand once again and they resumed their journey to the Room of Requirement.

Once again it had transformed into their training room. Ginny smiled widely, knowing she was going to be taught things she normally wouldn't learn for several years.

Harry immediately began to give her the fundamentals of the shielding charm _Protego._ He boiled down several classes worth of information to its core knowledge.

"A strong _Protego_ will stop any curse but _Avada Kedavra_," Harry explained. (1)

Ginny nodded, "Even the other Unforgivables?"

"Yeah, though it is extremely hard to anticipate and block them, but it can be done," Harry replied.

"So there is no way to stop the Killing Curse?" Ginny asked.

"Not with a shield spell, though there are two ways I know of to defeat it," Harry replied.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise. "How?

Harry gave a low chuckle. "The first is to get out of the way."

"And the second?" Ginny asked.

"You can conjure a solid object or banish something into its path," Harry explained. "We'll get to that a bit later. It's some really advanced magic, but we'll work up to that."

It took the better part of an hour but Ginny was finally able to form a decent shield.

Harry smiled in pride at how well Ginny was doing and also at her barely contained joy at learning a spell that she wouldn't have learned for another year.

The next thing he had her tackle was the stunning spell, _Stupefy._ Bolstered by the confidence of learning _Protego,_ she caught on much quicker and had mastered the spell in less than half an hour.

Ginny was practically glowing as Harry praised her. Her smile stretching across her face.

Harry couldn't help but smile too. He was more than pleased with her progress. At the rate they were going, he was certain that she would be up to speed on most of the more complicated spells in no time.

Seeing how well Ginny was doing and noting they still had time before they needed to head down for lunch, Harry then moved on to the blasting charm, _Confringo. _ As before Ginny had little trouble picking up the spell.

Harry watched as Ginny blasted a large block of wood the room had provided as a target.

"Okay, that's enough for now," he called out to her.

Ginny turned to him, looking as if she was going to protest as she was having a wonderful time as she mastered the spell.

Harry smiled at her as he approached. "I thought we might spend a little time cuddling on the couch as a reward for your hard work."

Ginny's frown turned into a brilliant smile and though she blushed slightly, she immediately stowed her wand and took Harry's hand as he led her over to the couch that appeared.

Ginny sighed contentedly as she snuggled tight into Harry's side. She still found it hard to believe that she was actually with Harry. Not only was it the fulfilment of her childhood fantasy, but he was treating her as an equal and not as someone who needed to be protected as her family was wont to do.

Harry lightly stroked his hand through her long luscious hair, revealing in the luxurious, silky feeling.

"You're doing fantastic," he said softly as he smiled down at her.

"Am I really?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"Ginny, you're mastering spells that take weeks of classes to learn," Harry said.

Ginny squeezed him in appreciation, feeling a warmth fill her at his praise.

"I think the teacher has something to do with it," she replied with a smile.

"Maybe," Harry responded with a shrug. "But you are a powerful witch. So don't sell yourself short."

"Well I have a great incentive," Ginny said with a giggle as she wiggled closer into his side. "With rewards like this, I have a wonderful motivation to do well."

Harry smiled and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the top of Ginny's head. Ginny raised her head to look at him, her eyes blazing with an inner fire.

Slowly Harry dipped his head and captured her lips with his. Gently at first, they shared in the wonderful feelings that coursed through their bodies.

Dimly in the back of her mind, Ginny thought that it was strange that at only eleven she was kissing someone, but it just felt so right that she didn't want to question it. She just wanted to enjoy it for what it was.

Harry thought briefly about his kissing Ginny. He knew that here and now they were both so young but all his pent up feelings of being with Ginny before overwhelmed him. In his mind he was seventeen and it seemed right to be kissing his girlfriend. Though she looked young, she acted much more mature than her eleven years and he found it hard to separate here and now with before.

Ginny's mind was awhirl with thoughts and emotions. She was hesitant to voice her concerns because she thought that Harry would stop treating her like he was. And that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Harry glanced at his watch and saw it was almost time for lunch. Loathed as he was to leave as he was enjoying being alone with Ginny, he knew that they needed to eat as they had expended a great deal of energy and needed to replenish it.

With a sigh he looked at Ginny. "We need to go get lunch,' he said a bit sadly.

Ginny just knew what Harry was thinking. Not only didn't she want to break the moment, she also didn't want to chance running into her brother.

With a mischievous smile, she looked at Harry.

"What?" he asked with a questioning smile.

Instead of replying to him, she called out. "Trixie."

With a pop, the diminutive elf appeared. "Whats can I do for Miss?" she asked.

"Would it be possible to have lunch brought up to us?" Ginny asked.

The elf smiled at her. "Trixie will be back with lunch in a moment," she said before disappearing.

Several moments later, she reappeared with a huge tray of all manner of dishes along with flagons of several beverages.

"Enjoy yours lunch," she said before disappearing once again.

"Wow! We could eat for a week with all that she brought," Ginny exclaimed, eyeing the plethora of dishes before them. She set about organizing everything so that they could easily access all the foods.

She and Harry sat on the floor beside the low table that held the food. Side-by-side so that their knees were touching, they tucked in and enjoyed the feast that Trixie had brought.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ron and Hermione strode into the Great Hall for lunch, once more eyeing the Gryffindor table for any sign of Harry or Ginny.

"Where can they be?" Ron fumed.

Shaking her head, Hermione said, "I have no idea."

Ron was in a fine state, barely containing his anger.

"Hey little brother," George said coming in and sitting down across from Ron and Hermione.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Fred added, sitting down next to his twin.

Ron just glared at his brothers so Hermione explained about how Harry and Ginny seemed to be spending a great deal of time together but no one could seem to find them.

Fred and George exchanged looks, smirking at one another.

"Give us a minute," Fred said as he stood.

'Yeah, we'll be back in a couple of moments," George said as he followed Fred from the Great Hall. "If they're still in Hogwarts we'll be able to tell you where they are."

They quickly ducked into a nearby classroom. Fred pulled an old piece of parchment from inside his robes.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he said softly as he tapped the parchment with his wand.

Fred and George watched intently as lines formed and spread out from where the wand had touched the parchment.

Both began to scan the page expecting to locate the two missing Gryffindors within a matter of moments.

Much to their dismay, they failed to locate either of the missing duo.

George looked at Fred stunned. "Well this is certainly interesting," he stated in surprise.

"You don't think they've located any of the secret passages into Hogsmeade, do you?" Fred asked in disbelief.

"I guess anything is possible," George replied.

Fred took his wand and tapped the map, "Mischief Managed."

Discouraged they returned to the Great Hall and sat down across from Ron and Hermione again.

"Well?" Ron asked expectantly.

"Sorry, we couldn't locate them," Fred said apologetically.

"How could you expect to locate them so fast?" Hermione asked, looking pointedly at the twins.

"That's our secret," George replied.

Ron eyed his brothers.

"Don't even ask," Fred said, cutting Ron off.

Ron just glared at his brothers and turned his attention back to his plate.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Ginny snuggled into Harry's side as he sat with his back against the couch. He was munching on a few grapes as he slowly stoked Ginny's hair again.

She eyed the remaining food, surprised at how little actually remained.

She sighed contentedly. "That feels really nice," she whispered.

Harry glanced down at Ginny, her head resting on his shoulder. Her eyes were closed and she had a small smile on her lips.

"Yeah, it does," he agreed.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, we should get back to work," he said after a moment.

Ginny sighed, but knew Harry was right. The more she learned the sooner they would be able to carry out their plans to tackle the Basilisk and take care of the Horcruxes.

In short order Harry taught her _Expelliarmus, _the disarming charm and _Accio _and_ Depulso, _the summoning and banishing charms.

Once she had _Accio_ down pat he showed her how to control the spell to summon objects into the path of oncoming spells. He used a mild stinging hex so that he wouldn't hurt her too badly and she quickly learned to place objects laying about into the path of the oncoming spell.

"You caught onto that really fast," Harry said with a chuckle.

Ginny giggled, "Well I had to," she replied, rubbing her one leg. "I had a great incentive to do so."

Harry quickly cast a _Finite_ on the spot, easing her discomfort.

"Thanks," Ginny said with a smile. She then looked at him coyly and leaned up and gave him a kiss.

Harry took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her and returned her kiss tenfold. When they finally broke apart, they both had bemused looks on their faces.

With wide smiles, arms wrapped about each other, they left the Room of Requirement and headed out for dinner.

**XX HP + GW XX**

Harry and Ginny were one of the last students to file into the Great Hall for dinner. Harry saw that there was only one space left across from Ron and Hermione, so he steered Ginny to two empty seats at the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the door.

Harry was so happy that the shy, stammering, I've go a crush on The-Boy-Who-Lived girl had disappeared and the lively, vivacious, mischievous Ginny that he had originally fell in love with had reappeared.

The sat there eating their dinners, laughing and joking, having a great time.

Ginny was on a natural high. Being with Harry was so much more than she had ever dreamed about. He talked and laughed with her. He listened and valued her opinion unlike her family who only saw her a a little girl.

Dinner was just finishing up and Harry and Ginny were just rising to leave when they heard "Potter!" yelled.

Harry turned and saw an extremely angry Ron, closely followed by an obviously equally irate Hermione storming their way.

Ginny tensed, but Harry gave her a reassuring smile. "Let me handle this," he whispered.

Ginny just nodded, not wanting to speak as she wasn't sure she could handle dealing with her brother at the moment. Though she did stealthily place her hand on her wand inside of her robes.

"What are you doing with my baby sister?" Ron hollerred at him.

Harry's frown turned into a smug smile which only further inflamed Ron. Just as his two friends reached him and it looked like a physical confrontation was about to take place, they heard a voice call out from behind Ron and Hermione. "What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Harry and Ginny watched as the angry red colour drained from Ron's face and Hermione turned abruptly, staring in shock and turning immediately into a contrite look as their Head-of-House came into view.

"Well, Mr. Weasley? What do you have to say for yourself?" the Professor asked, her eyes flashing angrily.

"I . . er . . well . . . ah . . . you see," Ron stammered.

"Eloquently put, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said sarcastically.

Hermione shuffled her feet, her eyes focused on the floor, unwilling to meet Professor McGonagall's eyes.

"And you Miss Granger, I'm disappointed that you are involved in this."

Her eyes swept the four students standing there. "Can anyone explain what is going on?" she asked sternly.

Harry gave Ginny a small smile, then he turned to the professor. "I really don't know," he said. 'Ginny and I had just finished dinner and were about to head back to the common room when these two came storming up with Ron yelling something at us."

"Is that correct, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes, Professor," Ginny replied, look their Head-of-House directly in the eyes.

McGonagall looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay, you two may go."

She then turned her attention back to Ron and Hermione. "You two, follow me," she said brusquely.

Harry and Ginny stood aside as Professor McGonagall, Ron and Hermione filed past.

"This isn't over, Potter," Ron whispered as he passed by.

Hermione also stared daggers as she followed the professor, though she did remain silent.

Once they were out of sight, Harry draped his arm across Ginny's shoulders and led her from the Hall. "That went better than I expected," he whispered in Ginny's ear.

Ginny smiled back, "Yeah, but it doesn't solve anything," she said a bit sadly.

"Don't worry about it. I'll handle Ron and Hermione," Harry said, giving Ginny a squeeze.

They walked slowly back towards Gryffindor Tower. Ginny tucked close into Harry's side. They had just reached the third floor when two people stepped out from behind a suit of armour.

"Harry, old bean," George said, though his tone was anything but friendly.

"We'd like to know where you got off to with our little sister," Fred said, equally unfriendly as his twin.

"What's it to you?" asked Harry, keeping his tone light and friendly.

George and Fred exchanged glances before turning their attention back to Harry and Ginny.

"Well as her brothers, we . . ." Fred began.

"It's none of your business," Ginny interjected, glaring at her brothers.

Harry squeezed Ginny gently, calming her down appreciably.

"Now Ginny," George said, trying to placate his irate sister. "We're just worried about you."

Ginny gave a derisive snort, showing her disbelief. "I hardly think that's true. I mean you never have time for me unless you're trying to prank me."

Fred and George looked chagrined.

"That doesn't mean we don't care," Fred replied, looking somewhat hurt by Ginny's statement.

"While we may not show it well, you are our sister and we do care," added George.

Ginny sighed, a small frown forming on her face. "I know you care in your own way, but you need to look at it from my point of view."

"We can understand that," George said, nodding.

'We are curious as to where you got to," Fred said with a smile. "We were wondering if you managed to find your way to Hogsmeade."

Ginny gave them a questioning look, but Harry smiled.

"So you couldn't find us on the map," Harry stated smugly.

"What map?" Fred asked, looking shocked.

Harry quickly pulled his wand. "_Accio _Marauder's Map," he said quickly.

Fred made a feeble attempt to grasp the map as it flew out from inside his robes.

George looked on in shock.

"This map," Harry said smugly.

"How do you know about the map?" Fred asked, his look of shock matching his twin brother's.

"That's for me to know and you to ponder about," Harry replied smiling at the Twins.

"Give it back," George finally demanded.

"I'll consider it," Harry replied, tucking the map into his robes. After a moment he said, "If you can tell me who the Marauders were, I'll let you have it back."

Fred and George exchanged looks. Finally they shrugged. "We have no idea," George said.

"If you're so smart, we won't prank you to death to get it back if you can tell us," Fred said smugly, thinking there was no way Harry could know if they didn't.

Harry gave a chuckle. "Okay, you're on. Which one do you want to know?"

Fred and George looked confused.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

"Which Marauder, Mooney Padfoot, Wormtail or Prongs?" Harry replied cheekily.

Fred and George shot each other a glance.

"How do you know the Marauder's names? You haven't even looked at the Map yet," Fred said with a frown.

Ginny was just watching it all, taking in how Harry was handling her brothers.

"Like I said, that's for me to know and you to ponder."

"Okay. You think you're so smart. Who was Padfoot?" an irritated George said.

"That's easy," replied Harry. "He's Sirius Black."

"The mass murder?" Fred said in shock.

"Actually, he's innocent," Harry said lowly. "Shite, another thing to add to the list," he whispered to himself.

Looking at Ginny, he said, "Remind me to get Scabbers when we get back to the dorms."

"Okay Harry, but what does Scabbers have to do with it?" Ginny asked bewilderedly.

"I'll explain later," Harry said with a wan smile.

He turned to the twins. "Look guys, I'd love to stay and chat all evening but Ginny and I have things to do. So if you'll excuse us, we really need to be going."

Harry steered Ginny around the Twins. As they started to walk away, one of the twins grabbed Harry's shoulder.

As quick as lightning, Harry spun about as he pulled his wand. "_Petrificus Totalus, Petrificus Totalus._"

Fred and George didn't know what hit them. They were suddenly frozen and toppled over.

"We'll be leaving now. Hopefully someone will find you soon," Harry said with a grin. "And just to make it better. _Colovaria."_

Ginny watch in glee as Fred's and George's robes suddenly turned a brilliant pink.

"That should help you get noticed," Harry said smugly.

He then once more wrapped his arm around Ginny and led her away.

Ginny was in near hysterics, unable to contain her laughter. With tears running down her face she looked at Harry. "That was so brilliant," she said, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Though you know, they will try and get back at you."

Harry just shrugged. "Yeah, but think of the fun we'll have getting back at them again."

Ginny just smiled and leaned in closer to Harry. She was surprised at his attitude and what he had managed to do to the twins. He sure wasn't anything like she had thought he would be. Not that she minded in the slightest.

In no time at all Harry and Ginny made it back to the Gryffindor common room.

"What's with Scabbers?" Ginny asked.

Harry sighed. "Well, he's actually one of the other Marauders and he's the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort."

Ginny stopped in shock, her eyes wide. "But everyone says it was Sirius Black."

"Yeah, well everyone is wrong," Harry replied darkly.

Harry glanced around. Luckily the common room was empty. Most of the Gryffindors were still down at dinner.

"Come on. Let's take care of the rat," Harry said as he led Ginny over to the stairs to the boys dorms.

They stopped outside of the door to the second years. Harry conjured a cage and cast several spells on it.

"There, that should hold him," Harry said in satisfaction.

Quietly he opened the door and he and Ginny snuck inside. Curled up on Ron's bed was Scabbers, sound asleep.

"_Stupefy,"_ Harry quickly cast.

The red light of the spell hit the rat. Harry quickly went over, grabbed him and shoved him in the cage.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ginny asked, peering into the cage.

Harry sighed. "As much as I'd like to dispose of him myself. I need to take him to McGonagall and have him exposed so that Sirius can go free."

"Why?" Ginny asked, looking intently at Harry.

"Sirius is my Godfather," Harry replied.

"Why not go to Dumbledore" Ginny asked, perplexed.

"I have my reasons," Harry replied a bit sadly. "Come on, let's go before Ron comes back. I really don't want to get into it with him before we take care of this."

Quickly they left the dorm and made their way out of the common room. They ran in to no one as they made there way to their Head-of-House's office. Just as they were about to knock on the door, McGonagall came up the hall.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" the woman asked.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Harry replied with a smile.

**XX HP + GW XX**

**A/N: Well, things are progressing along. Harry has a lot he needs to deal with. Hopefully he'll remember everything and with Ginny's help accomplish it all.**

**About Harry's Invisibility Cloak. My thoughts are that Death's Cloak would be much more than any ordinary invisibility cloak. I mean, come on, Death wouldn't be heard sneaking up on people. That and I'm sure other attributes would be different too. I'll highlight them as they become useful in the story.**

**(1) As From Potter Wiki. Only Avada Kedavra isn't blocked by the Shield Spell.**

**As always Please review.**


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